Magic Is a Hard, Gritty Thing (Part I)

With my book coming out in just a few short months, I’ve decided to write a few blog posts exploring the heart and soul of Everyday Enchantments, my writing life, and my life life: Everyday Magic. This is the term I use to explore the mysticism inherent in our daily lives, the sacred simple pleasures that heal the soul, and the radical self-care that keeps us vital.

Sounds lovely, doesn’t it?

And it is. But magic is also a hard, gritty thing. It takes its own time and works in its own way. You ask the Universe for something and it waits and watches and looks to see if you are, in fact, doing your part to make that desire come to fruition. It asks for blood and sweat, time and tears, focus and energy. So that when you ask for your Heart’s Desire, the Universe first considers whether it is a wise wishing or an unhealthy infatuation. In time, if it’s the right thing for you, then the wish whispered on a dandelion head will make its way back to you. Just as soon as it pleases and no sooner.

Let’s face it, if magic were easy, more people would be doing it.

The hardest part about magic is that you have to let go of any notion that you can control all the variables in your life. Surrender. Listen to the Universe and your heart of hearts. They will tell you where you need to go–and it’s often not where you think you should be headed. Magic is tricky that way. Revealing its wisdom only when you’re committed not to a specific outcome but to the art of learning yourself and the cosmic world around you.

It works kind of like this: When you ask for light, you might expect fireworks to go off in the night sky immediately. In reality, after hard labor, constant focus, and everyday conjuring, you get a small spark which you then nourish into a healthy fire to warm your home. Still, you get the light, but in order not to take that conjuring for granted, you have to continue to work to keep it alive.

Magic is a lot like self-care in that way. When we taking about taking care of ourselves it’s often about pampering—lighting scented candles, sinking into bubble baths, taking afternoon naps. Rarely do we talk about the hard work that goes into actual self-care, like waking up before sunrise to workout because that’s the only time you know you can realistically get it in, or swearing off processed sugar because you know that as good as it might taste, it’s no good for you. Self-care is letting go of toxic situations and people regardless of what outsiders might think of your actions so that you can feel at peace. It asks you to prioritize yourself without guilt in a world that sees that as a selfish act. In short, self-care requires some serious adulting!

As does magic. You walk the fine line between infinite belief and hard labor. As the common saying with writing goes, inspiration will never find you unless you’re working. Neither does magic. It doesn’t give anything away for free or shower you with unearned gifts. There’s always a price and the best magic, your own conjured magic, tastes all the better because it was birthed from your own sweat.

So you plant your soul seeds and you tend them without rigid expectations. Then one day those seeds sprout, blossom, ripen into delicious fruit if that is what is meant to happen. Those that don’t, find their purpose in feeding the worms in your compost bin. But the fruit you do harvest is nothing short of divinity. It tastes of your backyard, kissed by your sunlight. Fed by your dirt and watered by your sweat. It is summer in your mouth, the promise of eternal sweetness.

You get the idea.

Magic is a hard, gritty, beautiful thing.

This post originally appeared on Enchantment Learning & Living, the blogging home of writer and kitchen witch Maria DeBlassie, where true magic is in the everyday.